Implementing encrypted content in a game

ABSTRACT

A device, method, and an action figure toy for implementing encrypted content for implementation in a game are disclosed. The encrypted content may relate to physical objects, such as action figure toys corresponding movie characters and/or any other physical objects. Such content may be encrypted separately and distinctively during a development stage of the game. Decryption keys for decrypting the encrypted content may be stored on and distributed with corresponding physical objects. A set of encrypted content associated with such a physical object may be decrypted upon presence of the physical object detected by a reader configured to read information stored on the physical object and responsive to receiving the decryption key stored on the physical object. The decrypted content may be implemented in the game responsive to the presence of the physical object on the reader.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates to implementing encrypted content in a game, theencrypted content being implemented by a device configured to decryptthe encrypted content using a decryption key stored on a physicalobject.

BACKGROUND

Devices that implement content by detecting presence of action figuretoys on a reader are known. In those devices, some of the content storedon the consoles is associated with action figure toys and implemented inthe game only upon the action figure toys being present on the reader.The presence of the action figure toys on the reader is typically madeby detecting tags stored on the action figure toys using technologiessuch as radio frequency identification (RFID) or near fieldcommunication (NFC). However, those devices may be hacked such thatcontent associated with action figure toys not present on the reader maybe revealed by the hacker without a permission of a provider of thegame.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure relates to implementing encrypted contentassociated with physical objects in a game. One or more sets of gamecontent may be encrypted separately and distinctively, and may beassociated with corresponding physical objects. Decryption keys fordecrypting the encrypted content may be stored on and distributed withthe physical objects. A device may be configured to receive thedecryption keys from the physical objects through a reader usingtechnologies such as RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and/or any other suitablecommunication technology for reading information stored on the physicalobjects. Upon presence of the physical object being detected by thereader and receiving the decryption key stored on the physical object,the device may decrypt a set of encrypted content associated with thephysical object using the decryption key, and implement the decryptedcontent in the game. Unlike the conventional devices, this facilitatesimplementing encrypted content, which may not be easily hacked, in agame such that the encrypted content may be revealed in the game onlywhen corresponding physical objects are present on the reader.

In some implementations, a device configured to implement encryptedcontent in a game may be configured to execute one or more of a gamemodule, an object detection module, a decryption module, and/or othermodules.

Object detection module may be configured to receive information storedon one or more physical objects from a reader operatively coupled to orincluded in the device. The received information may includeidentification information of the physical objects, decryption keysassociated with the physical objects, information indicating one or moresets of encrypted content are associated with the physical object forimplementation in a game executed by the device, user progressinformation in the game related to the physical objects, informationindicating unique identifiers associated with a game content providersuch as S.W.I.D, and/or any other information stored on the physicalobjects. In some implementations, the object detection module may beconfigured to receive such information from the reader at a samplingrate pre-configured by the provider, administrator, developer, and/orany other entities related to the device. Simultaneously oralternatively, the object detection module may be configured to receivesuch information dynamically as it is pushed to the device by thereader. In some implementations, the object detection module may beconfigured to parse the received information using parsing semanticspreconfigured by the provider, administrator, developer, and/or anyother entities related to the device. In some examples, the objectdetection module may be configured to determine the objects whosepresence being detected by the reader correspond to one or more sets ofencrypted content for implementation in the game. Such determination mayinvolve obtaining information that specifies associations betweenphysical objects and encrypted content for implementation in the game.

Decryption module may be configured to decrypt encrypted content usingdecryption keys stored on physical objects responsive to the presence ofphysical objects being detected by the reader. For facilitating suchdecryptions, decryption algorithms for decrypting the encrypted contentmay be pre-configured by the provider, developer of the device, and/orany other entities related to the device at a configuration stage of thedevice. In some examples, the decryption module may be configured todecrypt different sets of encrypted content corresponding to individualphysical objects. Such different sets of the encrypted content may beseparately and distinctively encrypted by the provider, developer,administrator, moderator of the game, and/or any other entities relatedto the game at a development stage of the game such that distinctivedecryption keys may be generated for the different sets of encryptedcontent. The decryption module may decrypt a set of encrypted gamecontent associated with a first physical object using a decryption keystored on the physical object, responsive to the first physical objectbeing present on the reader.

Game module may be configured to execute an instance of a game byimplementing content associated with physical objects. The instance ofthe game may comprise characters, story, plots, narrative, game actions,activities, gameplays, user progress and/or any other game componentsthat are related to the physical objects. Such game components may beprovided in the game by implementing game content associated with thephysical objects when the physical objects are present on the reader.The game module may be configured such that responsive to a firstphysical object being present on the reader and responsive to a firstset of encrypted content associated with the first physical object beingdecrypted by the decryption module, the game module implements the firstset of content in the game.

These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the presentinvention, as well as the methods of operation and functions of therelated elements of structure and the combination of parts and economiesof manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only andare not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As usedin the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”,and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments will be more readily understood in view of the followingdescription when accompanied by the below figures and wherein likereference numerals represent like elements, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a device configured to implementencrypted content in a game;

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of implementing encrypted content in agame using the device as shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of method for implementing encryptedcontent in a game.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a device 100 that is configured toimplement encrypted content in a game. For protecting content related tophysical objects, such as figurines corresponding to movie charactersand/or any other physical objects, in a game, provider, developer,administrator, moderator, and/or any other entities related to the gamemay encrypt the content at a development stage of the game. Sets of thecontent may be encrypted separately and distinctively, and may beassociated with corresponding physical objects. Decryption keys fordecrypting the encrypted content may be stored on the physical objectsand distributed with the physical objects. The device may receive adecryption key from a physical object upon presence of the physicalobject being detected by a reader coupled to the device. The device maydecrypt a set of encrypted content associated with the physical objectusing the decryption key and implement the decrypted content in the gameresponsive to the presence of the physical object being detected by thereader. This may facilitate multi-tiered protections of game contentassociated with physical objects for implementation in a game only whenthe physical objects are present on the reader.

A system 100 configured to implement encrypted content in game mayinclude a device 101, for example such as, a console, desktop computer,laptop computer, Netbook, handheld device (e.g., mobile or smart phone,tablet, etc.), media center, set top box, and/or any other suitabledevice that may execute an instance of game. In this example, device 101is configured to execute one or more of a game module 112, an objectdetection module 114, a decryption module 116, and/or other modules.

Object detection module 114 may be configured to receive informationindicating presence of one or more physical objects detected by areader. The reader, which is not shown in this example for clarity ofillustration, may be operatively included in or operatively coupled tothe device 101 via any suitable wired or wireless communication through,such as but not limited to, universal serial bus (USB), Bluetooth,parallel ports, FireWire, Infrared, 3DS reader, and/or any othersuitable wired or wireless communication. The reader may obtaininformation stored on one or more physical objects, such asidentification information of the physical objects, one or moredecryption keys associate with the physical objects, and/or any otherinformation stored on the physical objects. The reader may obtain suchinformation from the physical objects through technologies such as,RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and/or any other communication technologiessuitable for reading information stored on a physical object by thereader. In some implementations, the object detection module 114 may beconfigured to receive the information stored on the physical object(s)from the reader at a sampling rate preconfigured by the providerdeveloper, manufacturer and/or any other entities related to the system100. Simultaneously or alternatively, the object detection module 114may be configured to receive such information from the readerdynamically as the information being pushed to the system 100 by thereader.

In any case, the received information from the reader by the objectdetection module 114 may comprise identification information about aphysical object whose presence being detected by the reader, for examplesuch as, one or more tag IDs associated with the physical object, a nameof the physical object, a bar code associated with the physical object,and/or any other identification information about the physical objectpresent on the reader. The received information may include one or moredecryption keys associated with the physical object. In some examples,the received information may include information indicating one or moresets of encrypted content are associated with the physical object forimplementation in a game, user progress information in the game relatedto the physical objects, and/or any other information regarding thephysical object. In some examples, the object detection module 114 maybe configured to parse the received information for the physicalobject's identification information, the decryption keys, theinformation indicating the encrypted content are associated with thephysical object, and/or any other information included in the receivedinformation from the reader by the object detection module 114. Tofacilitate such parsing, the provider, developer, manufacturer, and/orany other entities related to the system 100 may specify parsingsemantics, such as the length of the identification information, adelimiter that delimits one or more tag IDs from other fields in theobtained information, the length of the decryption key field, the lengthof the information indicating the association(s) between the physicalobject and encrypted content for implementation in the game, one or moredelimiters, and/or any other parsing semantics for parsing the receivedinformation stored on the physical object from the reader.

In some examples, the object detection module 114 may be configured todetermine presence of the physical object detected by the reader basedon the received information from the reader. For example, the objectdetection module 114 may determine that a physical object is presentwhen one or more tag IDs of the physical object are received from thereader. In some examples, the object detection module 114 may beconfigured to determine that the physical object whose presence beingdetected by the reader may correspond to one or more sets of encryptedcontent for implementation in the game executed by the system 100. Insome implementations, such determinations may be made by the objectdetection module 114 by simply looking up in the information receivedfrom the reader. For example, as described above, the receivedinformation from the reader may comprise information indicating one ormore sets of encrypted content are associated with the physical objectpresent on the reader. Simultaneously or alternatively, associationsbetween physical objects and corresponding encrypted content may bespecified by the provider, developer, and/or any other entities relatedto the game during a development stage of the game, and stored onelectronic storage coupled to or included in the system 100, for examplesuch as, the electronic storage 118 as shown in this example.Accordingly, the object detection module 114 may be configured toexamine such associations for determining that one or more sets of theencrypted content are associated with the physical object present on thereader.

Decryption module 116 may be configured to decrypt encrypted content forimplementation in the game using decryption keys stored on the physicalobjects responsive to the presence of the physical objects beingdetected by the reader. For facilitating such decryptions, decryptionalgorithms for decrypting the encrypted content may be pre-configured bythe provider, developer, and on any other entities related the game. Insome examples, such decryption algorithms may be configured into thedecryption module 116. Simultaneously or alternatively, the decryptionalgorithms may be stored on a system 100, for example, in the electronicstorage 118. In those examples, at runtime of the system 100, thedecryption module 116 may be configured to load the decryptionalgorithms into the system memory 106, for example through an entrypoint, and execute the decryption algorithms for decrypting theencrypted content.

In any case, the decryption module 116 may be configured to decrypt oneor more of a set of encrypted content associated with a physical objectwhose presence being detected by the reader. The presence of thephysical object may be indicated by the information received from thereader by the object detection module 114, as described above.Responsive to such information indicating the presence of the physicalobject present on the reader, the decryption module 116 may obtain thedecryption key for the set of encrypted content. As also describedabove, in some examples, such a decryption key may be received from thephysical object through the reader via the object detection module 114.

In some examples, the object detection module 116 may be configured todecrypt different sets of encrypted content corresponding to individualphysical objects. Such different sets of encrypted content may beseparately and distinctively encrypted by the provider, developer,administrator, moderator of the game, and/or any other entities relatedto the game at a development stage of the game. Such separate anddistinctive encryption may involve encrypting the different sets ofcontent using different encryption methods and generating distinctivedecryption keys for decrypting the different sets of encrypted content.

For example, a set of content may be associated with a first physicalobject, such as an action figure toy corresponding to a first moviecharacter, by the developer of the game during the development stage ofthe game. This set of content may be encrypted using any suitableencryption algorithm, for example, employing a symmetric cipher or anasymmetric cipher. The symmetric cipher may correspond to one or more ofdata encryption standard (DES), advanced encryption standard (AES),international data encryption algorithm (IDEA) and/or any othersymmetric encryption standard(s). The asymmetric cipher may correspondto one or more of RSA encryption algorithm, DSA encryption algorithm,Diffie-Hellman algorithm, and/or any other asymmetric encryptionalgorithms. In any case, a first decryption key may be generated fordecrypting this set of encrypted content at the development stage of thegame.

Similarly, a second set of content associated with an action figure toycorresponding to a second movie character may be encrypted using anencryption algorithm the same as or different from the encryptionalgorithm used to encrypt the first set of content. A second decryptionkey may be generated for decrypting the second set of encrypted content.In some examples, such as when the first movie character correspondingto the first physical object appears in a different movie from the onethe second movie character corresponding to the second physical objectappears in, the two sets of encrypted content corresponding to the firstphysical object and the second physical object may be encryptedseparately and the distinctively, for example by using two differentciphers. In those examples, the decryption keys for decrypting the twosets of encrypted a content may be generated as mutually exclusive toeach other (e.g., using different ciphers) such that the firstdecryption key cannot be used to decrypt the second set of encryptedcontent and the second decryption key cannot be used to decrypt thefirst set of encrypted content.

Game module 112 may be configured to execute an instance of a game byimplementing content associated with physical objects. The instance ofthe game space may reflect the state of the game. State information mayinclude information such as, without limitation, position information ofone or more objects, topography information, object status/shapeinformation, battle information, score information, user or characterprogress information, user inventory information, progress informationfor one or more activities or actions, view information describing aview of the virtual space, and/or other information that describes thestate of the virtual space.

The instance of the game may comprise a simulated space that isaccessible by users. The simulated space may have a topography, expressongoing real-time interaction by one or more users, and/or include oneor more objects positioned within the topography that are capable oflocomotion within the topography. In some instances, the topography maybe a 2-dimensional topography. In other instances, the topography may bea 3-dimensional topography. The topography may include dimensions of thespace, and/or surface features of a surface or objects that are “native”to the space. In some instances, the topography may describe a surface(e.g., a ground surface) that runs through at least a substantialportion of the space. In some instances, the topography may describe avolume with one or more bodies positioned therein (e.g., a simulation ofgravity-deprived space with one or more celestial bodies positionedtherein). The instance executed by the computer modules may besynchronous, asynchronous, and/or semi-synchronous.

Within the instance of the game executed by game module 112, users maycontrol characters, objects, simulated physical phenomena (e.g., wind,rain, earthquakes, and/or other phenomena), and/or other elements withinthe virtual space to interact with the virtual space and/or each other.The user characters may include avatars. As used herein, the term “usercharacter” may refer to an object (or group of objects) present in thegame that represents an individual user. The user character may becontrolled by the user, with which it is associated. The user controlledelement(s) may move through and interact with the virtual space (e.g.,non-user characters in the virtual space, other objects in the virtualspace). The user may initiate maneuvers to direct the movements ofcontrolled character in the game. The user controlled elementscontrolled by and/or associated with a given user may be created and/orcustomized by the given user. The user may have an “inventory” ofvirtual goods and/or currency that the user can use (e.g., bymanipulation of a user character or other user controlled element,and/or other items) within the game.

The user may participate in the instance of the game by taking actions.In some implementations, the user actions may be enabled by physicalcontrols provided by, such as but not limited to, play buttons,joysticks, motion sensors, cameras, keyboards, mouse, and/or any othercontrol device coupled to the system 100.

Within the instance of the game executed by the game module 112,contents may be implemented responsive to presence of physical objectson the reader. Characters, story, plots, narrative, activities, gameactions, gameplays, user progress and/or any other game components maybe associated with physical objects, such as action figure toyscorresponding to movie characters and/or any other physical objects.Such game components may be provided in the instance of the game byimplementing the content associated with the physical objects when thephysical objects are present on the reader. For example, a character maynot be provided in the instance of the game when a correspondingphysical object is not present on the reader; but will be provided inthe instance of game when the physical object is present on the reader.For such selective implementation of the game instance, the game module116 may be configured to incorporate a set of content associated with aphysical object into the instance of the game, responsive to thephysical object being present on the reader. In some examples, the setof content associated with the physical object may be encrypted asdescribed above. In those examples, for incorporating a set of encryptedcontent into the game, the game module 112 may be configured to instructthe decryption module 116 to decrypt the set of encrypted content. Insome other examples, the set of encrypted content corresponding to thephysical object present on the reader might have already been decryptedby the decryption module 116 as described above. In those examples, thegame module 112 may simply incorporate the decrypted content into theinstance of the game.

In this example, the device 101 employs a first processor 102operatively connected to system memory 106 and a second processor 104operatively connected to frame buffer 108. This is merely illustrative,as system 100 may be implemented with more or less processors than thoseshown. One or both of first processor 102 and/or second processor 104may include a plurality of processing units operating in coordination insome other examples. As shown in this example, the first and secondprocessors may be connected using a data bus or point to pointconnections, such as the system bus 110, which transfers data betweeneach structure of the system 100. Although not shown, the system 100 mayalso include an input device, such as but not limited to, control pads,touch screen, motion sensor, mouse, trackball, touchpad, digitizingtablet, joystick, pointing stick, keypad, keyboard, camera, remotecontroller or any other suitable input device. The system 100 mayinclude a display, which is also not shown in this example. The device100 may include touch screen, liquid crystal display (LCD),light-emitting diode (LED) display, organic LED (OLED) displays, cathoderay tube (CRT) display, plasma display, projector screen,electroluminescent displays, vacuum fluorescent (VF) display, laserdisplay, E-ink display or any other suitable displays, to name a few.The display may be configured to receive inputs from a user, for examplea touchscreen, game pad, joystick, mouse, and/or any other user inputdevice. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other suitablestructure, such as but not limited to, an audio system, an i/o subsystemand/or any other structure may also be included in the system 100. Thedevice may include one or more readers (not shown in this example) thatare configured to read information stored on the physical objects usingtechnologies such as RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and/or any other suitabletechnology for reading information stored on physical objects present onthe readers.

In this example, the device 101 includes electronic storage 118.Electronic storage 118 may comprise non-transitory storage media thatelectronically stores information. The electronic storage media ofelectronic storage 118 may include one or both of system storage that isprovided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with the system100 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to the system100 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.)or a drive (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a disk drive, etc.). Electronicstorage 118 may include one or more of optically readable storage media(e.g., optical disks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g.,magnetic tape, magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electricalcharge-based storage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-statestorage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.), and/or other electronicallyreadable storage media. Electronic storage 118 may include one or morevirtual storage resources (e.g., cloud storage, a virtual privatenetwork, and/or other virtual storage resources). Electronic storage 118may store software algorithms, information determined by processors 102and 104, and/or other information that enables server 104 to function asdescribed herein.

In some examples, information stored on electronic storage 118 mayinclude the content for implementation in the instance of the gameexecuted by the game module 112. Such content may include encryptedcontent corresponding to physical objects as described above. Theencrypted content may comprise different sets of content encrypted bythe developer, provider, administrator, moderator, and/or any otherentities related to the game. The different sets of encrypted contentmay be encrypted distinctively and a separately as described above.

In some exemplary implementations, the system 100 may be operativelyconnected to a cloud storage (not shown in this example for clarity)provided by a provider of the game content, a third party associatedwith the provider of the game content, a telecommunication serviceprovider, an internet service provider, and/or any other entities thatmay provide a cloud storage to store the information related to thegame. In those implementations, the information stored on the cloudstorage may be obtained by the system 100 via any suitable wired and/orwireless connections between the system 100 and the cloud storage. Suchobtained information may be stored by the system 100 locally in theelectronic storage 118.

In this example, the processors 102 and 104 are configured to provideinformation processing capabilities in the device 101. The processors102 and 104 may include one or more of a digital processor, an analogprocessor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analogcircuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or othermechanisms for electronically processing information. In this example,the processor 102 is a central processing unit and the processor 104 isa graphic processing unit. As shown in this example, the processor 102may be configured to communicate information 120, which may include viewinformation for the game having selective implementation of encryptedcontent associated with physical objects, with the processor 104 throughthe data bus 110. Although processors 102 and 104 are shown in FIG. 1 asdistinctive entities, this is merely illustrative. In someimplementations, the processors 102 and 104 may be combined to form anintegrated processor. It is also understood that the processor 102and/or 104 may comprise however many cores to facilitate the processingprovided by the processors 102 and/or 104.

The processor 102 may be configured to execute modules 112, 114, 116,and/or other modules. Processor 102 may be configured to execute modules112, 114, 116, and/or other modules by software; hardware; firmware;some combination of software, hardware, and/or firmware; and/or othermechanisms for configuring processing capabilities on processor 102. Asused herein, the term “module” may refer to any component or set ofcomponents that perform the functionality attributed to the module. Thismay include one or more physical processors during execution ofprocessor readable instructions, the processor readable instructions,circuitry, hardware, storage media, or any other components.

It should be appreciated that although modules 112, 114, 116, areillustrated in FIG. 1 as being implemented within a single processingunit, in implementations in which processor 102 includes multipleprocessing units, one or more of modules 112, 114, 116, may beimplemented remotely from the other modules. The description of thefunctionality provided by the different modules 112, 114, 116, describedherein is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to be limiting,as any of modules 112, 114, 116, may provide more or less functionalitythan is described. For example, one or more of modules 112, 114, 116,may be eliminated, and some or all of its functionality may be providedby other ones of modules 112, 114, 116. As another example, processor102 may be configured to execute one or more additional modules that mayperform some or all of the functionality attributed below to one ofmodules 112, 114, 116.

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of implementing encrypted content in agame using a device as shown in FIG. 1. It will be described withreferences to FIG. 1. As shown, the device 101 is operatively connectedto a reader 202, a game control pad 204, and a display 208 in thisexample. As also shown in this example, a physical object, i.e., anaction figure, 210 is placed on the reader 202. As shown, the reader 202obtains information 212 stored on the physical object 210, and transmitsthe information 212 to the device 101. It should be appreciated thatalthough one reader and one physical object are illustrated in thisexample, this is not intended to be limiting. In some other examples,multiple readers and/or physical objects present on the readers may beoperatively connected to the console.

As shown, the physical object 210 comprises a storage unit 218 and acommunication unit 220 in this example. The storage unit 218 may beconfigured to store information 212 regarding the physical object 210 asillustrated. The communication unit 220 may be configured to communicatethe information stored in a storage unit 218 to the reader usingtechnologies such as, but not limited to, RFID, NCF, Bluetooth, and/orany suitable technologies for communicating the information 212 to thereader. As used herein, “unit” refers to any suitable executing softwaremodule, hardware, executing firmware or any suitable combination thereofthat can perform the desired function, such as programmed processors,configured hardware chips, discrete logic, state machine, to name a few.Although not shown in this example, the physical object 210 may compriseany other components such as a processor, a display, a speaker, and/orany other components.

As illustrated, the information 212 comprises information indicating atag ID associated with the physical object 210 and a decryption key fordecrypting encrypted content associated with the physical object 210 inthis example. Although not shown in this example, the information 212may comprise other information regarding the physical object 210, suchas information indicating one or more sets of encrypted content areassociated with the physical object 210 for implementation in the game,user progress information related to the physical object 210 in thegame, and/or any other information regarding the physical object 210. Insome examples, information such as user progress in the game related tothe physical object 210 may be communicated to the physical object 210from the device 101 via the reader 202 (e.g. the user progressinformation may be embedded in radio frequency signals readable by thecommunication unit 220 of the physical object 210), and stored in thestorage unit 218. In those examples, such user progress information maybe communicated to the device 101 via the reader 202 responsive to thepresence of the physical object on the reader 202 and may beincorporated in the game by console, e.g., via the game module 112.

As shown in this example, the device 101 is configured to implementcontent in a game stored on media such as the DVD disc 206 shown in thisexample. It should be appreciated although it is illustrated in thisexample that the game content is stored on physical media such as theDVD disc 206, this is merely illustrative and thus not intended to belimiting. The game content may be stored on any form of media including,but not limited to, digital media such as cloud storage and/or any otherforms of media in some other examples. In this example, the DVD disc 206may comprise multiple sets of content for implementation in the game. Asshown, such content may include one or more sets of encrypted content214 associated with physical objects. As also shown, the device 101 maybe configured with a table 216 that specifies associations betweenphysical objects and corresponding encrypted content. In this example,as shown, the physical object 210, i.e. physical object 0123 asindicated by the tag ID stored on the physical object 210, is associatedwith content set number 1; object 0124 is associated with content setnumber 2; and physical object 0125 is associated was content set number3. In this example, the table 216 also specifies information indicatingwhether the physical objects are present on the reader and whetherdescription keys have been received from the physical objects. Suchinformation may be recorded in the table 216 by the console, e.g., viathe object detection module 114, based on the information 212 receivedfrom the reader 202. In this example, as specified by the table 216, theobject 0123, i.e., the physical object 210 is present on the reader anda decryption key associated with physical object 210 has been received;and object 0124 is not present on the reader but a decryption keyassociated with object 0124 has been received; and object 0125 is notpresent on the reader and a decryption key has not been received fromthe object 0125.

Based on the information specified in the table 216, the device 101 maydetermine that the physical object 210 is present on the reader and adecryption key associated with physical object 210 has been received,e.g., via the object detection module 114. Responsive to such adetermination, the device 101 may decrypt content set number 1 usingdecryption key associated with the physical object 210 and implement thedecrypted content set number 1 in the instance of the game forpresentation on the display 208.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of method 300 for implementing encryptedcontent in a game. The operations of method 300 presented below areintended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, method 300 may beaccomplished with one or more additional operations not described,and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally,the order in which the operations of method 300 are illustrated in FIG.3 and described below is not intended to be limiting.

In some embodiments, method 300 may be implemented in one or moreprocessing devices (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, adigital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuitdesigned to process information, a state machine, and/or othermechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or moreprocessing devices may include one or more devices executing some or allof the operations of method 300 in response to instructions storedelectronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or moreprocessing devices may include one or more devices configured throughhardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed forexecution of one or more of the operations of method 300.

At operation 302, an instance of the game may be executed. The instanceof the game may be executed by implementing content in the game. Theinstance of the game may provide character, story, topography, plot,game actions, activities, gameplay, and/or any other game componentsassociated with physical objects, such as, without limitation, actionfigure toys corresponding to movie characters. In some implementations,operation 302 may be performed by a game module the same as or similarto game module 112 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At operation 304, information stored on a physical object may bereceived from a reader. The reader may be configured to obtain suchinformation from the physical object using technologies such as, but notlimited to, RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and/or any other communicationtechnologies for reading information stored on a physical object. Insome implementations, operation 304 may be performed by object detectionmodule the same as or similar to object detection module 114 (shown inFIG. 1 and described herein).

At operation 306, presence of the physical object detected by the readermay be determined based on the information received in the operation304, and a decryption key stored on the physical object may be obtainedfrom the received information. The received information may includeidentification information of the physical object, a decryption keyassociated with the physical object, and/or any other information thatmay be stored on a physical object. Based on such information, thepresence of the physical object on the reader may be determined, forexample, by examining the identification information of the physicalobject. The decryption key may be obtained by parsing the receivedinformation using semantics preconfigured by a developer, provider,and/or any other entity related to a device. In some implementations,operation 306 may be performed by object detection module the same as orsimilar to object detection module 114 (shown in FIG. 1 and describedherein).

At operation 308, a set of content associated with the physical objectwhose presence being detected by the reader has been determined inoperation 306 may be determined such that the set of content may beimplemented in the instance of the game. In some examples, for suchdeterminations, an association between the set of content and thephysical object may be specified by the provider, developer, and/or anyother entities related to a game during a development stage of the game.Simultaneously or alternatively, such determinations may be made byexamining the information received in operation 304, which may includean association between the physical object present on the reader and theset of content. In some implementations, operation 308 may be performedby object detection module the same as or similar to object detectionmodule 114 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At operation 310, a determination that the content determined in theoperation 308 is encrypted may be made. In some implementations, such adetermination may be made based on meta-information included in the setof content. In some implementations, operation 310 may be performed byobject detection module the same as or similar to object detectionmodule 114 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At operation 312, the set of content that is determined to be encryptedin the operation 310 may be decrypted by using the decryption keyobtained from the physical object. In some implementations, operation312 may be performed by decryption module the same as or similar to thedecryption module 116 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At operation 314, the set of content that is associated with thephysical object whose presence being detected by the reader anddecrypted in the operation 312 may be implemented in the instance of thegame. In some examples, the set of content may not be encrypted asdetermined in the operation 310. In those examples, the set of contentmay be implemented in the instance of the game simply responsive to thepresence of the physical object being detected by the reader, withoutdecrypting the set of content. In some implementations, operation 302may be performed by a game module the same as or similar to game module112 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

Although the present technology has been described in detail for thepurpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be themost practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understoodthat such detail is solely for that purpose and that the technology isnot limited to the disclosed implementations, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that arewithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it isto be understood that the present technology contemplates that, to theextent possible, one or more features of any implementation can becombined with one or more features of any other implementation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for implementing encrypted content in agame, the device comprising: one or more processors configured toexecute computer program modules, the computer program modulescomprising: a game module configured to execute an instance of a game byimplementing content associated with physical objects; an objectdetection module configured to receive information indicating presenceof the physical objects detected by a reader operatively coupled to orincluded in the device and to receive decryption keys stored on thephysical objects through the reader; and a decryption module configuredto decrypt encrypted content such that responsive to a presence of afirst physical object being detected by the reader and responsive toreceiving first decryption key stored on the first physical object, thedecryption module decrypts a first set of encrypted content associatedwith the first physical object using the first decryption key; and,wherein the game module is further configured to implement the decryptedfirst set of content in the instance of the game responsive to thepresence of the first physical object being detected by the reader. 2.The device of claim 1, wherein the decryption module is furtherconfigured such that responsive to a presence of a second physicalobject being detected by the reader and responsive to receiving a seconddecryption key stored on the second physical object, the decryptionmodule decrypts a second set of encrypted content associated with thesecond physical object using the second decryption key; and the gamemodule is further configured to implement the decrypted second set ofcontent in the instance of the game responsive to the presence of thesecond physical object being detected by the reader.
 3. The device ofclaim 2, further comprising electronic storage configured to store thesets of content for implementation in the instance of the game, whereinthe electronic storage stores the first set and second set of encryptedcontent.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the decryption module isconfigured such that the decryption module cannot decrypt the first setof encrypted content using the second decryption key and cannot decryptthe second set of encrypted content using the first decryption key. 5.The device of claim 3, wherein the first set and the second set of theencrypted content are encrypted by ciphers.
 6. The device of claim 5,wherein the ciphers include one or more of a symmetric cipher or anasymmetric cipher.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the symmetriccipher corresponds to data encryption standard, advanced encryptionstandard and/or international data encryption algorithm.
 8. The deviceof claim 6, wherein the asymmetric cipher corresponds to RSA encryptionalgorithm, DSA encryption algorithm, and/or Diffie-Hellman algorithm. 9.The device of claim 1, wherein the object detection module is furtherconfigured to determine that the physical objects whose presence beingdetected by the reader correspond to the encrypted content forimplementation in the game such that responsive to the presence of thefirst object being detected by the reader, the object detection moduledetermines that the first physical object corresponds to the first setof encrypted content.
 10. A method for implementing encrypted content ina game using a device operatively connected to a reader, the methodbeing implemented in one or more physical processors configured toexecute computer program modules, the method comprising: executing aninstance of a game by implementing content associated with physicalobjects; receiving information indicating presence of the physicalobjects detected by a reader and receiving decryption keys stored on thephysical objects through the reader; responsive to a presence of a firstphysical object being detected on the reader and responsive to receivingfirst decryption key stored on the first physical object, decrypting afirst set of encrypted content associated with the first physical objectusing the first decryption key; and implementing the decrypted first setof content in the instance of the game responsive to the presence of thefirst physical object being detected by the reader.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising responsive to a presence of a secondphysical object being detected by the reader and responsive to receivinga second decryption key stored on the second physical object, decryptinga second set of encrypted content associated with the second physicalobject using the second decryption key; and implementing the decryptedsecond set of content in the instance of the game responsive to thepresence of the second physical object being detected by the reader. 12.The method of claim 11, further comprising storing the sets of contentfor implementation in the instance of the game on electronic storageincluded in the device, wherein the electronic storage stores the firstset and second set of encrypted content.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the first set of encrypted content cannot be decrypted by usingthe second decryption key and the second set of encrypted content cannotbe decrypted by using the first decryption key.
 14. The method of claim12, wherein the first set and the second set of the encrypted contentare encrypted by ciphers.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein theciphers include one or more of a symmetric cipher or an asymmetriccipher.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the symmetric ciphercorresponds to data encryption standard, advanced encryption standardand/or international data encryption algorithm.
 17. The method of claim15, wherein the asymmetric cipher corresponds to RSA encryptionalgorithm, DSA encryption algorithm, and/or Diffie-Hellman algorithm.18. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining that thephysical objects whose presence being detected by the reader correspondto the encrypted content such that responsive to the presence of thefirst object being detected by the reader, determining the firstphysical object corresponds to the first set of encrypted content. 19.An action figure toy configured to facilitate implementing encryptedcontent associated with the action figure toy in a game, wherein theaction figure toy comprises: a storage unit configured to storeinformation regarding the action figure toy, the stored informationregarding the action figure toy comprising one or more decryption keysfor decrypting the encrypted content associated with the action figuretoy; and a communication unit configured to communicate the informationstored in the storage unit with a reader operatively connected to theaction figure toy such that responsive to the action figure toy beingpresent on the reader, the communication unit communicates thedecryption keys to the reader.
 20. The action figure toy of claim 19,wherein the storage unit is further configured to store informationindicating a first set of encrypted content is associated with theaction figure toy for implementation in the game, and wherein thecommunication unit is further configured to communicate the informationindicating the first set of encrypted content is associated with theaction figure toy to the reader responsive to the action figure toybeing present on the reader.